


the sketches on your skin

by efflorescere



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Soulmates, fill up the chengstin tag challenge, just cute chengstin stuff, lowkey jiazheng but not really, mentioned zhengkun, zhangjun was mentioned once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 22:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16027583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/efflorescere/pseuds/efflorescere
Summary: It was a normal school day for Chengcheng— almost. He thought he was just going to go through his day like usual, eat with his friends, go to class, walk home, eat, then sleep.He's wrong, though.Or, the soulmate au where anything you write on your skin appears on your soulmate's as well. Minghao was that artistic boy who likes drawing on his skin, and Chengcheng is that boy who's clueless at the beginning.





	the sketches on your skin

**Author's Note:**

> this is jiazheng disguised as chengstin
> 
> kidding
> 
> there's a lot of jiazheng though, they're brothers btw
> 
> pls love these boys a lot
> 
> also idk much about china's educ system so i based it on my country's. i'll research more and come back to correct mistakes.
> 
> this is still unedited im sorry i havent gone through this i just had to get this idea out of my mind
> 
> thanks

"What's that on your hand?"

 

It was a normal school day for Chengcheng— almost. He thought he was just going to go through his day like usual, eat with his friends, go to class, walk home, eat, then sleep.

 

He's wrong, though.

 

"What is?" He raised his head to look at Xinchun, one of his friends, and darted his eyes to where he was looking. Before he could have a good look of whatever it was that was on his hand, Zeren had snatched his hand and was looking at it carefully with Wenjun and Xinchun on both his side.

 

"When did you get a tattoo?" Zeren asked.

 

He never got a tattoo.

 

"I didn't," he answered honestly.

 

Bewildered, he pulled his hand back and took a good look for himself.

 

Now this is weird. _He never got a tattoo_. A pair of praying hands were drawn on the side of his hand perfectly and he was sure, really sure, that it wasn't him who did that. Chengcheng can't draw to save his life, and even if he was daydreaming in class, he couldn't have done that to himself unconsciously. If someone else did that on him, he would know. _So how?_

"How on Earth would that appear on your hand, though?" Xinchun wondered aloud. Zeren nodded alongside him, thinking as well. Beside them sat Wenjun, their older friend, who also seemed to be in deep thought. Chicken and fries long forgotten on the table, the four people all sat thinking hard.

 

“Are you sure you didn’t draw that?” Xinchun tried.

 

Zeren was quick to rebut his statement. “Nah, Chengcheng can’t draw. I can draw a stickman better than him.”

 

“I appreciate the insult, thanks ge.” He sarcastically said.

 

“You’re welcome,” Zeren even had the audacity to smile.

 

Chengcheng almost rolled his eyes. _Almost_.

 

“But seriously,” Xinchun continued. “Don’t you think it’s weird that _that_ just suddenly out of the blue in your skin? I mean, what does that even mean?”

 

“I think I know what that is.” All eyes immediately turned to Wenjun, who continued to sip on his milkshake like what he said was nothing.

 

“And?”

 

“It must be your soul mate,” he continued. “Why else would those appear on your skin if you didn’t write them? Simple, your soul mate must have drawn them on their own skin. Looks like you got yourself an artist, Cheng.”

 

To say Chengcheng was surprised is an understatement. He’s more than taken aback. He knew about soul mates. Whatever they write on their skin will appear on their soul mate’s skin as well. It was something beautiful but at the same time mysterious that happens on every human being alive.

 

“That’s so smart, Wenjun,” Zeren broke the silence in their table. “But that’s also funny. Cheng’s not even 18, the inks aren’t supposed to appear until then. Next joke, please.”

 

That’s the catch about those inks, though. Everyone wasn’t supposed to see them until they’re 18, for some reason. Whatever you write on your skin won’t appear on your other’s half skin unless that person is already considered of age.

 

“He’s right, ge. I’m not turning 18 until a few more weeks. It’s still quite early for the inks to appear,” he said, staring at the drawing at the side of his hand. It was beautifully drawn; he actually thinks he had seen the drawing before. It was strangely familiar, but he was never one to remember so many things, so it must be something that he had already seen but can’t remember.

 

Wenjun shrugged. “I don’t know, then. I’ve heard some stories that for some people, the inks appear earlier than their 18th birthday. Maybe you are one of those persons, Cheng. If not, then I don’t know how else we would explain _those_.”

 

He went silent after that. Thinking hard, he wondered who the other person was.

 

\----

 

“What are you doing, Minghao?”

 

The bright light from his laptop was the only illumination in the room. Despite it being just the afternoon, the curtains were drawn and his windows are closed, making his room dark. The door was also shut before Zhengting walked in.

 

“Oh, ‘Ting ge. You startled me,” he stated, turning his back to the laptop to face Zhengting, his older brother. “I was just looking at this painting.”

 

“ _Albrecht Dürer?_ ”

 

He hummed, facing his laptop again. His older brother was an arts student in his university days and he inherited his immense interest in everything artistic. “Actually, I was trying to copy it.” He showed the side of his palm to Zhengting, where a pair of praying hands was drawn using a pen. “What do you think?”

 

“It’s beautiful,” his brother complimented, “but I’d appreciate this better if you open the windows here on your room when you’re drawing.” The older proceeded to tie his curtains and open his windows. “You’ll damage your eyes if you draw in the dark.”

 

Minghao liked the dark, but when his brother scolds him, he just can’t retaliate so he has no choice but to comply. “Fine,” he huffed. Zhengting just laughed.

 

He went back to his work, polishing the mini-artwork on his skin. “By the way,” he heard his brother say, “Mom and Dad are flying to Beijing on the weekend.”

 

They lived in Wenzhou, also the place where he and his brother were born. They were raised on the very same province and had only gone to other cities when their mom and dad were bringing them along on some of their local business trips, or that time when they visited Zhengting on Beijing because he was a university student.

 

“Business trip?” He asked and his brother hummed in reply, now lying on his bed. “They’re not bringing us along?” There was a small pout forming on his lips.

 

“You have classes, silly,” his brother laughed. “Can’t afford to risk your education like that.” They both laughed at that statement.

 

There was silence after that. Minghao was turning his swivel chair left and right, while Zhengting remained staring at the ceiling. A few moments later, it was his brother who broke the silence. “Why do you like drawing on your skin so much?”

 

He raised his eyebrows at the strange question. “I just like it, ge. Besides, I’m too lazy to get some paper sometimes.”

 

Zhengting rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t you know your soul mate could see whatever you write on there?”

 

Of course, he knew. Everyone at his school was waiting for inks to appear on their skin, but to him, he doesn’t really think of it right now. He had the mindset that when the right time comes, it’ll appear eventually. He can wait. Besides, he’s still a little young himself, too. He has two more years to wait before he can see those inks appear.

 

“My soul mate might not be 18 yet, for all we know, ge,” he answered. The inks don’t appear until then.

 

“But what if he’s older than you? He’s probably wondering why there are praying hands on the side of his palm,” and his brother laughed again.

 

“At least my drawings are beautiful.” Oozing with confidence, he stuck his tongue at his brother. “Unlike you, who writes reminders on their arm?”

 

He remembered how his brother had met his soul mate, his Xukun-ge, who’s been pretty much a part of their family since he got together with his brother. His brother was an admittedly forgetful person despite his young age that he’d taken into habit to write certain reminders on his arm before going back to his then college university dorm and writing them on sticky notes for the next day.

 

At first, his “arm reminders” were just small things like “pick up papers from Mr. Lin” or “buy bread for tomorrow” but as his schedule had turned hectic, almost everything he needed to do where written either on his palm or his arm.

 

It was cute, actually, how his brother and his now-boyfriend formed their relationship. Xukun had noticed how Zhengting was so forgetful that sometimes he repeats the notes on his own arm so Zhengting would see them again and remember to do them. _It was cute_ , but he would never admit that to his brother.

 

“If not for those reminders, Xukun and I would have never met so no, that’s not insulting. Try again!” His brother taunted.

 

“Sure,” Minghao snickered, “Like I don’t know how you _purposely_ wrote a time and place on one of your reminders just to urge Kun-ge to come and meet y—”

 

“I did not do that purposely!” He saw how red his brother had become before the other threw a pillow at him. H knew just how to push his brother’s buttons. He knew how _true_ his statement was that it got the other easily embarrassed every time he mentions it.

 

“Chill, I was kidding, ge!” He laughed, throwing the pillow back at his brother.

 

“I hate you so much.” The other marched to the door.

 

“You love me!”

 

“Keep convincing yourself!” and the door was shut close.

 

Minghao smiled to himself, but his b rother’s earlier question replayed on his mind in the silence of his room. _What if his soul mate could really already see the inks?_

A part of him hopes they do, while a part of him wishes not, for some reason he does not know.

 

\----

 

A few weeks passed after that day when Chengcheng first saw the ink on his skin. A few more drawings appeared after that, although it appeared at random days and random times that sometimes he would just be surprised that his skin has something drawn on them. The drawings were beautiful, maybe even more than Quanzhe’s drawings, which are always the best during art class.

 

Before he knew it though, it was his 18th birthday. He and his family had gone out to celebrate, and the day after he went out with his own friends. While they were eating, Zeren suddenly asked him a question that had him thinking.

 

“So, Chengcheng,” the other started, “are you planning to write back to your soul mate?”

 

Truth to be told, he had been thinking about it for days. He still doesn’t know how old his soul mate is. They could be younger or older; there was no way to tell. He doesn’t know if they will see whatever he might write back.

 

“What would I say?”

 

“Anything!” Zeren exclaimed. “A simple ‘hello’ would work, too,” Wenjun seconded.

 

He’ll think about it tonight.

 

\----

 

That night was one of Minghao’s homework free days and he was drawing on his skin again. This time, he was drawing a little heart just near his pulse, before finishing it with heart beat lines on both sides. It was a simple one; he doesn’t really want to draw anything complicated that night. He was staring at it, when suddenly, _suddenly_ —

“Z-Zhengting-ge!” he shouted, standing up from his chair and rushing to his brother’s room. “GE!”

 

Sitting upright on his bed was Zhengting, clearly already going to sleep when Minghao came barging in his room. “What is it?”

 

“Look!” He shoved his hand near Zhengting’s face, just enough for his eyes to see what was happening. Something was slowly outlining itself beside the heart he drew on his pulse, which awfully looks like a _poorly drawn stickman_ hugging the little heart.

 

“Oh my god,” he heard his brother say, “t-that’s— that’s so cute!”

 

“What?” That was not the reaction he was expecting. Still a little shaken, he asked his brother. “What do you mean ‘cute’? I’m not 18 yet!”

 

His brother looked up at him, pulling him to sit on his bed. “Well, yeah. I admit it’s still very early for the inks to appear,” he said. “I mean you’re just 16.”

 

“Exactly!”

 

“Why are you shouting?” Zhengting snapped. “There’s nothing to worry about!”

 

“Why?” He didn’t understand. What if he’s not normal? What if there’s something wrong with him? What if—

 

“Listen, Minghao. Some people have their inks appear earlier than 18. It’s nothing to worry about, it’s just that it’s rare that’s why you don’t hear it a lot,” he told him. “You remember Yanjun? He had them when he was 13, isn’t that even earlier than yours? Where is he now? Happily _married_ with Zhangjing!”

 

“Yes! But— wait, they’re _married_?!” he exclaimed. What is with tonight that he’s getting a lot of shocking things all at once?

 

Zhengting laughed. “Well, no. But they’re too sweet they’re basically married to each other now,” he said. His brother tapped his cheek. “Anyway, your soul mate is so cute! Shouldn’t you be happy about that? You don’t have to wait two more years!”

 

“N-No, I’m just… shocked?” It was more of a question for himself than a statement. He has no idea what to feel about this whole ordeal yet. It was very sudden and he had no time to properly react into it.

 

“Aww,” Zhengting cooed. He cupped Minghao’s cheeks and squeezed them. “My baby brother has a soul mate! It’s so, so cute!”

 

“Ge!” He whined. Zhengting threw his head back, laughing. “Idiot, you might wanna do something about that by now. Looks like they wrote something again,” his brother pointed to his wrist.

 

He looked down and saw a scribble beneath their drawings. It was a “Hi?” with a small smiley face beside it, written in a scrawl. “I’m—I’m going back to my room, ge.” He stood up from Zhengting’s bed and started walking to the door, eyes still glued to his wrist.

 

“Have fun!” he heard his brother say. Before he closed the door, an excited “Mom is so going to hear about this!” was heard.

 

\----

 

Chengcheng was awkwardly sitting cross-legged on his bed while staring at his wrist, waiting for anything to appear on his skin. A whole minute passed and he sighed and took his phone. “Do you think I scared them?” he typed and sent a picture of his wrist to their friend group chat.

 

There were different reactions from his friends after he sent that message. Quanzhe was cooing at how cute the gesture was, Zeren and Xinchun were dissing his stickman, and Wenjun had congratulated him for finally making a move.

 

Before he could reply to their chat, he noticed something slowly appearing on his wrist. He immediately dropped his phone on his lap and waited for the words to be completed. _“Hey, I’m guessing you’re my soul mate?”_

 

Chengcheng couldn’t help a chuckle. “What else,” he murmured to himself. He took his pen and replied, _“The one and only. I’m Chengcheng.”_ He didn’t forget to put another smiley at the end of it.

 

_“Call me Minghao.”_ There was a smiley at the end of it, too, and Chengcheng was trying very hard not to coo at the cuteness of it all.

 

“Cute.”

 

They exchanged numbers that night, and Chengcheng thinks he might have fallen already at the boy who kept drawing beautiful images on his skin even if he hasn’t met him yet.

**Author's Note:**

> y'all know the drill: drop me things on [ twt ](https://www.twitter.com/the9thpercent) or [ cc ](https://curiouscat.me/hanzus)
> 
> i swear i'll come back to edit this i love you all thanks for reading hehe


End file.
